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It was smooth-sailing for Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna as they launched their French Open doubles campaign at Roland Garros with a first-round win over Andreas Seppi and Simone Vagnozzi on Thursday.
Pakistan’s Qureshi and India’s Bopanna beat the Italians with a 6-3, 6-2 score-line on the fifth day of the grand slam in match that lasted 57 minutes.
The IndoPak Express contested in several clay-court ATP Masters tournaments before reaching Paris, in a bid to avoid disappointment on the tricky surface, following their second-round exit in last year’s French Open.
“We are very well prepared this year,” Qureshi told Dawn.com from Paris following the opening match.
“It was disappointing to go out in the second round last year and we want to make sure that result is not repeated.”
The duo are seeded fifth for the tournament and Qureshi believes they are ‘strong contenders’ to lift the title. Their first grand-slam seeding at the Australian Open in January, following a strong finish on the ATP circuit last year.
In their second-round match, Qureshi and Bopanna will face Kei Nishikori (Japan) and Maximo Gonzalez (Argentina).
The winning start will serve as a confidence-booster for Qureshi, who plays his next match – a mixed doubles first-round tie – on Friday along with Czech Republic’s Kveta Peschke.
Bopanna, meanwhile, has paired up with his country-mate Sania Mirza for the mixed doubles contention. They play their first-round match later on Thursday.
